Archive

About a year ago Soft Dolls and Animals! published an article that I wrote about making cloth doll toes. My eighteen inch (46 cm) cloth doll Kitty has toes made from my method of making doll toes.

Here is a close up of the toes.

You can purchase and down load Kitty’s pattern from My Patterns page by clicking here. Kitty’s pattern is also found in my book, Sewing for Large Dolls. You can find out how to order the book from My Books page by clicking here. My small dolls also have toe instructions included in their patterns.

I have had several requests for instructions on how to add toes to other doll patterns. If you would like to use my method of doll toe-making, download this free pdf by clicking on the words “Toe Text”: Toe Text

My newest book is on loom knitting for dolls. I wrote it for children, but I think that an adult like me who sews, but doesn’t knit very often, might enjoy making the items in the book to enrich a doll’s wardrobe. If you would like to see all of the projects in the book, check My Books page.

Here is a picture of Samantha and mini Samantha wearing backpacks made from instructions found in the book.

Today I am going show the two finished dolls that I have been working on for the last few weeks. Kitty is eighteen inches ( 46 cm). Her pattern is found in my new book, Sewing for Large Dolls. Twinkle is six and one half inches (16.5 cm). Her pattern is found in my book, Sewing for Mini Dolls. If you are interested in finding out more about these books you can read about them on My Books page by clickinghere.

I gave both dolls two ponytails instead of braids. I sewed Kitty’s wig following the instructions in my book. After I sewed the yarn to the doll’s head, I made two pony tails instead of braids out of the long loose yarn.

To make each small curl for Twinkle, I wrapped a knobby yarn five times around a medium size knitting needle. I cut the yarn and sewed each curl together with matching thread. I then sewed the curl to the doll’s head. When her head was covered in curls, I made each ponytail by wrapping several loops of yarn around two fingers. I then sewed the ponytails in place. Here are my finished dolls.

Last week we discussed joint safety, while my cloth dolls Kitty and Twinkle waited for their arms and legs. Kitty is eighteen inches ( 46 cm). Her pattern is found in my new book, Sewing for Large Dolls. Twinkle is six and one half inches (16.5 cm). Her pattern is found in my book, Sewing for Mini Dolls. If you are interested in finding out more about these books you can read about them on My Books page by clicking here.

I used freezer paper to sew the arm and leg templates, and left the freezer paper on the fabric until I had cut them out.

I then removed the paper from the pieces and turned them right side out. I am proud of the instructions in the Kitty pattern for making fingers and toes on her hands and feet. Twinkle also has tiny optional fingers and toes. When I had constructed the toes and fingers and stuffed the arms and legs to the beginning of the stuffing opening, it was time to join the limbs to the body. First I followed my directions for inserting the joint bolt into the arm or leg and then into the doll’s body. After the plain washer has been placed around the joining shaft, it is time to insert the lock washer. In the past, I have found that it takes a lot of strength to add the lock washer to the joint assembly. To make it easier to push the lock washer down the locking shaft of the doll joint I use a trick that I learned from CR’s Crafts catalog. I put a cup of water in a microwaveable bowl and heat it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. I put the lock washer that I am about to use in the water and heat it for another 30 seconds. I leave the water in the microwave oven to use with the next lock washer and remove my first washer with a slotted spoon. I place the washer on a folded terry cloth towel. When the washer is dry and cool enough to handle, it slides easily down the locking shaft. After all the arms and legs had been joined, I finished stuffing the arms and legs. Then it was time to stuff Kitty’s body.

With my method of stringing arms and legs, Twinkle’s body was stuffed before her arms and legs, but the stringing buttons were inside the limbs and so I finished stuffing them after I had joined them to her body. Now all my dolls need are hair and clothing.

I am continuing a discuss that I started on September 8 on making two of my cloth dolls. Kitty is eighteen inches ( 46 cm). Her pattern is found in my new book, Sewing for Large Dolls. Twinkle is six and one half inches (16.5 cm). Her pattern is found in my book, Sewing for Mini Dolls. If you are interested in finding out more about these books you can read about them on My Books page by clicking here.

Kitty’s head is made of five cloth pieces, not counting the ears, which are optional. The much smaller Twinkle has a two piece head.

I am very proud of my method of attaching Kitty’s head to her body. I think that it is easy to do. In the book we have a diagram for matching the head to the neck. For this Kitty doll, I asked Tech Support (husband) to take photos. The head and neck will be sewn right sides together. The top of the head will go inside the body and the chin dart will be matched with the neck at the center front seam.

The chin dart is pinned to the center front seam. The raw edges of the head and neck are pinned together.

Here is a close up of the head pinned to the neck.

After the head and neck are sewn together, the head is pulled out of the body and the backs of the head are sewn together. Then the head/body casing can be turned right side out. Kitty’s head is stuffed before the arms and legs are attached to the body with doll joints. After I stuffed her head, I removed the stuffing to show you how much the stuffing compresses in a firmly stuffed doll.

I then replaced the stuffing and added a little more. Kitty’s body will not be stuffed until her arms and legs have been attached.

Twinkle’s head was sewn on by hand using the ladder stitch. Directions for the ladder stitch can be found in my free download Tools, Tips, and Techniques. If you are interested in this booklet, you can find it on my Patterns Page by clicking here.

Twinkle’s arms and legs are attached to her body by stringing, rather than doll joints. Her body is stuffed before her arms and legs are attached.

I am making two cloth dolls, eighteen inch ( 46 cm) Kitty and six and one half inch (16.5 cm) Twinkle. I am using the patterns found in my two new books, Sewing for Large Dolls and Sewing for Mini Dolls. If you are interested in finding out more about these books you can read about them on My Books page by clicking here.

Recently I decided that the freezer paper method is my favorite way to sew using a template. I explain this method in Sewing for Large Dolls. The large doll book suggests sewing the arms, legs, and ears as the step after coloring the face. The arms and legs will be used later in the construction, but the ears are needed when the head is sewn together. I decided to sew Twinkle’s arms and legs while I was sewing Kitty’s arms, legs, and ears. I used two folded pieces of fabric for all my templates. Here is how they looked after I sewed them.

My Bernina sewing machine has a knee lift for its presser foot. I find this feature very helpful when I am following templates, because the process often requires raising the foot to pivot the fabric on the needle. My new Brother machine has placed the hand lift for the presser foot conveniently at the side rather than the back of the machine head. I was pleased to find how easy it was to follow the template lines without a knee lift.

I cut out only the ears before I began work on the dolls’ heads. The arms and legs were cut out later, when I was ready to use them. I find it easier to cut out each piece if I leave the template on the fabric until the piece has been cut out.

Next time we will look at constructing doll heads and attaching the heads to the bodies.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to check two more pages on my website. We have added descriptions of my two new books on “My Books” page. You can see color pictures of Kitty, and Twinkle and pictures of several different dolls wearing clothes made from patterns in the books.

To get to my book page you can click the “My Books” button at the top of the page, the words “My Books” to the left of this column or click here.

Also be sure to check Florabunda’s Page. Tech support (husband) has just fixed a bug that had disabled the Easter Eggs on the page in some web browsers. Florabunda’s Page has lots of free kid friendly patterns and activities.

To get to Florabunda’s Page you can click the “ Florabunda’s Page” button at the top of the page, the words “Florabunda’s Page” to the left of this column or click here.

The books are available from Amazon, and Amazon.co.uk. They should soon be available from Barnes and Noble and Amazon.ca.

Sewing for Large Dolls includes my Kitty doll pattern and all of her clothes and shoe patterns. Her clothes will fit other eighteen inch (46 cm) dolls such as American Girl dolls and dolls from the Springfield collection.

Sewing for Mini Dolls includes my six and one half inch (16.5 cm) Twinkle doll and her patterns. Twinkle’s patterns will fit other dolls her size such as the American Girl Mini dolls. The instructions for Twinkle and her clothing are the same as those in Florabunda’s book, but the patterns and measurements are for the smaller Twinkle doll.

To see the books on Amazon click here. To see the books on Amazon.co.uk click here.

I have finished red striped, flannel nightgowns for my Christmas dolls and Florabunda. I’m almost done with the Christmas dolls’ wardrobe. I’m only planning one more outfit, a Christmas skirt and top. Here are my eighteen inch (46 cm) doll and my American Girl mini in their gowns.

The eighteen inch nightgown pattern is in my book Learn to Sew for Your Doll. The mini’s nightgown comes from my Nightgown,Smock Top, and Two Tiered Skirt down-loadable pattern. The mini doll wears clothes made from Twinkle’s patterns.

When I make a cloth doll as a play doll, I like to include a flannel gown. I think that it adds to the tactile pleasure of the doll. Here are Florabunda and Kitty wearing flannel nightgowns.

The little cats that they are holding are part of a new easy to sew project that I am developing. I’ve made three sizes of cats. Here is Florabunda with the largest cat.

I am still having fun working on my Blue Santa Christmas dolls. My eighteen inch (46 cm) doll skirt and top are from my book, Learn to Sew for your Doll. My American Girl mini is wearing a top from my “Gown, Smock Top, and Two Tier Skirt” down-loadable pattern. The skirt comes from my “Pants, T-shirt, and Skirt” down-loadable pattern.

Here are Kitty and Florabunda. Kitty is wearing the larger skirt and top made from patterns in my Learn to Sew book. Florabunda’s patterns are found in the same down-loadable patterns as those for the American Girl mini and also my book Sew a Small Doll.